Too Old?
by thewizardanthedragon
Summary: Luc gets to hear about his father's history WARNING! - CP OF MINOR - DON'T LIKE? DON'T READ!
1. Chapter 1

Tim knocked quietly at his son's bedroom door. The muffled response was inaudible but he entered anyway, the knock was more of a notification of his presence than a request for admission. He would be going in regardless of the answer he received.

Tim shook his head. Luc was lying on his bed, his face buried in the pillow with his arms supporting both.

"Did you hear me call you to dinner?" Tim asked calmly.

A feather filled answer that was probably yes came from the pillow.

"Are you coming then?" He asked trying not to sound annoyed that his child had chosen to ignore the summons to the table.

Luc simply shook his head no, not even raising it slightly off the bed.

Tim's first reaction was to demand Luc's presence and lift him unceremoniously from the bed. But instead he took a second to take a deep breath, think and then asked "Why are you not coming down?"

"I can't" Luc said, this time lifting his face out of the pillow enough to be heard and understood.

"Because?" Tim's question was one word but he drew out its pronunciation.

Luc didn't answer immediately but eventually turned his face away from the waiting man and whispered " 'cause mom paddled me".

Tim screwed up his face in confusion. Although Abby had explained to him how supper preparations and homework time had gone south Tim wasn't expecting that to be a reason his ever growing 13 year old son didn't want to eat. Luc had been small for his age until a while ago when they had noticed that Luc had 'caught' up to his classmates in height. The way he was eating recently everyone surmised that Luc was going to grow fast and furious. So Tim was surprised there was any reason Luc wouldn't want to come down to eat. And as Abby described the situation she had only swatted their son 3 or 4 times. Although his reaction seemed to portray that he'd been given the licking of his life.

"I know" Tim answered "she told me".

"Hhmmpf"

Tim continued to be confused by his son's reaction. This was not the first time Luc had been on the receiving end of physical chastisement. Statistically speaking it was more likely to be his brother in trouble but Luc still found himself in need of correction every now and again. Out of the 2 boys Luc was actually the one more likely to accept correction and bounce back without a grudge. Actually Luc was more likely to apologize for his behavior then hide in his room and pout.

Tim approached the bed and sat on the edge gently patting his son's shoulder. "Luc what's the problem, mom wasn't that hard on you and by the sounds of it you were very rude to her" Tim explained.

"Hhmmpf" Luc spat out quietly but turned his head just enough to see his father out of the side of his eye. Seeing the look of concern on his dad's face Luc relaxed slightly and decided to tell him at least what part of the problem was. "She did it in front of Sam" the young teen choked out.

Ah! Thought Tim this was more about the humiliation of the incident than what actually happened. It was their parental view that one should praise in public, punish in private. Yet circumstances forced by Luc hadn't made that an available choice.

"Well son, it is my understanding from Abby that you gave her very little choice in that matter."

Throwing his head to the opposite side so that he was no longer looking at his dad Luc flopped back onto his pillow.

"You don't need to say anything Luc but I want you to listen…OK?" Tim waited for some sort of response and when he finally heard a stifled noise he continued. "If you don't want to get your butt smacked in front of your brother go to your room when asked!" Tim thought it was pretty obvious but somehow Luc's common sense had left him so stating the obvious seemed to be necessary lately. "The other suggestion I have for you would be that when your mother leaves the room to get control of her temper you don't turn to your brother giving him a high five and tell him 'that's how it's done'" Tim waited so that his words had time to be heard and processed. "When your mother asked you to go to your room, her only intention was to give you time to get control of yourself and take a minute to ponder your options. It was your response, your comments to Sam and your attitude that changed her mind."

Luc didn't move or give any indication that he even heard the advice he'd just been given. He was mad. Mad at his mother for 'over reacting'. Mad at his brother for laughing. Mad at himself for being so stupid in the first place. Mad that they didn't understand he was too old to be spanked like a toddler. He was 13 for Christ sake. They didn't understand. As he laid there thinking about his father's words he started seething. They didn't know what it was like. They didn't remember what it felt like. It all started because his mother was telling him what to do and how to do it. He could clear away his books and set the table without any instructions thank you very much. God they treated him like he was 3. Now his dad just told him how it was entirely his fault in the first place and he could have prevented it all. He'd been provoked didn't they understand that. He was justified in his sarcastic stinging reply.

This time the "Hhmmpf" that he let escape had a slightly different tone which Tim easily caught. "Luc, I too am losing my patience. I am trying to help you understand how you can avoid another incident like tonight."

"Hhmmpf" could be heard through the pillow and Luc added a kick of the bed to add emphasis. Tim's hand quickly made contact with the easily accessible backside.

"Luc what has gotten into you?" Tim asked exasperated.

Raising himself onto his elbows Luc looked sideways at his father before looking back down at this damp pillow. "She started IT. Telling me every step of everything again! I can figure it out on my own. Thank you very much. I'm not a baby. I'm 13 for Chri…crying out loud" Luc had enough where withal to keep himself from cursing. Neither of his parents was ever accepting of anyone taking the Lord's name in vain.

And in that very moment true understanding came to Tim. This was not about clearing his books, this wasn't about getting punished in front of Sam or even being told how to do things. This was about feeling like he was too old for a spanking. There is a time in every kid's life in which they feel that they are above such consequences. And the sting of the realization that it just isn't the case is often way worse than that of the reprimand itself.

Tim smiled to himself; his anger quickly dissipating as he too had been in such a situation.

"Luc… Let me tell you a story…"


	2. Chapter 2

Luc noticed his father's demeanor change and his own shoulders relaxed. Luc rolled onto his side propping his head up with his hand. His elbow resting on the pillow Luc had to scrunch up to find a comfortable place.

Tim waited until his child had stopped moving and was paying attention to him.

"Once upon a time" Tim began before being interrupted with Luc's frustrated "Daaaaaad". "What?" Tim smiled before continuing.

"Ok… So I had been away at MIT for my first semester and the only reason I had come home was for Christmas break. Having had several months of living on my own, making decisions about where, what, when and how I was going to do things I wasn't really prepared to have to ask to permission for anything."

Luc nodded his head in understanding.

"I had made plans to meet some of my class mates over the holidays. I told my father about the plans not to request his blessing but simply to let him know why I wouldn't be home later that night. When he told me I wasn't allowed to go I scoffed pretty loudly and stormed off to my room. Now you have to remember Luc that I was only 16 at the time. It had taken me some time to build my social network at school as most of them were 19 or older. I wasn't about to call them up and tell them I couldn't go out for the night because my dad said no."

Luc clenched his teeth and sucked in air. He completely understood how his "teenage" father was feeling but he had also met the admiral and he wasn't a man that would take kindly to his own son going against his orders. "Oh dad that's nasty" Luc said before Tim continued.

"Ya… I thought so too…problem was I never asked why he said no…." Tim raised his eyebrows in such a way that Luc understood that there was more to the story.

"So my father went out later that afternoon and that is when I decided that I needn't heed his instructions. I had lived on my own for almost 5 months and had no interest in being told what to do. Therefore I packed my overnight bag and left."

Again Luc sucked in air through gritted teeth. He could see the error of another person's ways much easier than his own and sympathized with teen in the story.

Tim just nodded to his son. Happy that his son was engaged enough in the story to maybe take away something from it. Continuing his story he explained "I went to a friend's place for the afternoon and that night we went out as we had planned. We crashed at one of the guy's places after having been out for the night." Tim was hoping to just skip over the particular details of where they were as he didn't want to give his kid any ideas that spending the night out at clubs at 16 would be acceptable. However Luc asked where they'd been and why he hadn't just gone home.

"We had gone out to a couple of the clubs in town that weren't particularly careful about looking at ID's and I didn't want to go home having been out drinking. I didn't go out and get drunk or anything just hang out but I was pretty sure the admiral wouldn't approve. " Tim smiled when Luc answered "Ya think?"

"During the entire evening and next morning I never thought of home, my father or anything but myself and my friends. I was an adult in my mind. I was making responsible decisions, like not drinking and driving, having one or two drinks and nothing more. Yet I never thought about the why, why he'd said I couldn't go out."

"When did you find out why he didn't want you to go?" Luc asked skipping ahead in the story needing to know, the suspense too much.

"After sleeping in and taking my sweet time to get ready and return home" Tim explained.

Luc squeezed his eyes tight together and pulled his shoulders up to his ears feeling the stress that the younger version of his father was about to walk into. Luc would have hated to be in his father's shoes in that moment. He knew how the situation would go if it were him and he also knew that the admiral had a reputation that would make his own dad seem like a playful puppy even when angry.

Tim ruffled Luc's hair and smirked before continuing "I walked into the house through the back door and found Penny standing at the sink. I was so happy to see her I rushed over and gave her a big bear hug. But when I put her back down the look on her face wasn't what I was expecting. I thought she'd return the joyful sentiment. Instead she asked 'Timothy what were you thinking?' sounding very disappointed".

"Penny would have been worried about you dad" Luc explained as if Tim hadn't been able to figure that out. "I would be worried about you too, that is if I didn't know you had lived through it…. 'cause otherwise I would have believed that grandpa would have killed you". Tim let himself laugh before he asked "Can I keep going? Or do you want to go and eat supper now?"

"No … finish … sorry" Luc answered his free hand making circular motion as if encourage his father to continue.

"I assume it was that he heard my voice that brought him to the kitchen. He stood in the doorway looking very big and very angry." Tim sat up straighter and used his own hands to show the size his imagination had remembered his father to look like. "His voice was like steel and very very quiet" Tim whispered and Luc shuddered involuntarily. " 'Room. Now.' was all he said. I stood in the kitchen frozen, having finally realized that there were consequences to making the decision I had. Penny had to gently push me in the right direction to get me moving. I ran past him and into my room. Once I got there something happened. I snapped! I started to think 'why should he be mad at me?' and other such things. By the time he stormed through my bedroom door I was in such a mood. Angry that he was upset about me making my own choices. Angry that he thought he could boss me around. Angry that he thought he could punish me for something he had no right to ask me not to do in the first place."

"Bad idea Dad… bad idea man…. I don't think it's a good idea to be mad at the admiral… or at least tell him that…"Luc added.

"Well not only did I get mad …. I told him so…. and I wasn't exactly polite…he just stood there listening for a few seconds before he stepped forward and smacked my ass so hard I choked on my next word… I'd been spanked before… but never that hard… I had to stop myself from crying… how was I supposed to prove I was grown up to make my own decisions if I was crying like a baby with one swat?" Tim paused long enough to let Luc take a breath as he had been holding it and was turning a funny colour.

"Then in his calm but definitely furious voice he explained that he was beyond disappointed in me. He explained that he had arranged for an early Christmas dinner out at a restaurant with extended family and friends. Due to the other people's responsibilities it was the only time that we could all get together. I deflated only slightly as I felt that if the event had been so important than he should have told me. I told him as much as well." Luc covered his face with his hand and shook his head whispering "Dad… Dad… Dad… bad idea…bad idea.."

"The thing was, as I stood there I somehow forgot that he was more than willing to make his point on my backside. I was 16. I was in university. I was man. He couldn't punish me…not like that… I was too old for a spanking… or so I thought."

Luc's cheeks blushed slightly and his eyes dropped to the pattern on the sheets while Tim finished his story.

Tim then explained how the admiral then made very clear that when he told his son to do something he expected Tim to follow through. Although Tim felt slightly embarrassed, describing how his father had removed his belt, instructed him to bend over the desk and then administered the most memorable of whippings in his life, he still did it. He wanted Luc to comprehend that even as an adult he remembered what it was like to be a teen. To feel something so strongly and then have your beliefs turned upside down. He told Luc that he could still remember how much that licking hurt but that it actually took him longer to get over the fact he wasn't too old for a spanking then the sting of the belt.

Luc couldn't look at his father's face through the ending of the story, he was too uncomfortable. When Tim had been quiet for a while and Luc hadn't said anything in response he patted him gently on the arm and jovially announced "We had better get down to supper before your mother feeds it to the birds in the backyard!" Smiling both Luc and Tim descended the stairs to eat supper with the rest of the family.

Luc missed the shared non verbal exchange his parents had across the table. He was too busy filling his plate with food to notice. He was back to his usual self with a smile and a laugh. Feeling understood was so important almost nothing else mattered.


End file.
